Thursday, November 11, 2010

Du the avec du lait and milk


Front yard.

Time: 10:51pm ohhh its late..

Location : on my bed again
 

Weather : well, its night. but not too bad. Need a light sweater I suppose



  
Most of the back yard

On to today. Seeing as it was Remembrance Day today, once again Lou did not have school. Which is turning out to be great for my jet lag. I don’t believe that they call it Remembrance Day, but it is the same idea. Same holiday.



Niolon.

After a simple breakfast of bread and nutella. Yes, Nutella. It is a world wide thing. Actually, probably more European than North American. I will not get into that.. I went grocery shopping with Marie-Anne. Something odd about the super market; it was small. Superstore back at home still has France beat, for now. Also, everything came in packages. Like the butter: in a cardboard box. And the milk, well, you can buy it refrigerated and fresh, like most of us do back home, but I guess it really isn’t that popular. People like their milk off the shelf. And a contributing factor is probably the lack of milk drinkers in the family here. Also, some items, I found to be oddly pricey, while others were quite cheap. Maybe there was a sale on, or maybe it’s just different. I will have to keep an inquiry.


On the way home we stopped by a REAL BAKERY. Here it is an art. I would no longer call the Extra Foods bakery a real bakery.

Post grocery shopping, Allisa and I played allot of Post Office with Lou. It seems to be her favourite.

Very neat bridge.
Marseille
Niolon
A lovely lunch was prepared since Alex and her boyfriend are home for the weekend. We began with aperitifs outside on the patio, and then moved inside for the main meal. I quite enjoyed the little appetizers of anchovie stuffed olives, little crackers, picked garlic and nuts. The main course was some kind of meat dish with a tomato based sauce that we had on top of rice. Quite delicious. We followed with a vinaigrette salad and cheese on baguette. I have no idea what kind the first kind of cheese was that I tried, kind of tasted like Swiss, but it was much more firm and a little nuttier. The second was obviously Camembert. Which I am already developing quite a taste for.

After lunch Marie-Anne took Allisa, Lou and I to see the Mediterranean Sea. It was gorgeous. Where we went for a hike along was the Blue Coast; named after its blue waters. Very beautiful. And across the bay, a very large bay I will add, was Marseille. It is the second biggest city in all of France. It stretches all along the coast from the main sea all the way into the bay. Very beautiful area. We wandered back into the small fishing village of Niolon. Once again, a simply beautiful area. Houses of vary heights and levels due to the ragged terrain of the sea cliffs and rocks. Not a very wealthy town because of the fishermen’s trade, but to purchase a home here is very very expensive. Marie-Anne explained that in order to have a home here it is next to impossible. The properties are very much sought after and are only obtained through the family. Another interesting fact is how in the summer, it is not permitted to visit the village. The prime location for tourists to come and swim is the exact reason; they do not want the villagers to be disturbed by the huge crowds of people that come to refresh on the easy +40 degrees C days.

I will add that it was a quick 20-30 minute car ride to return home. This was even in the 17H00 traffic.

Once again us girls played, being world famous DJs and Superstars where Lou had no problem in all of a sudden turning the area into a mini Bistro. I quickly ordered `the usual` which was a tea with honey and milk. Lou can not get over the fact that I like milk and honey in my tea.

Supper was quite delicious; we melted some other kind of cheese and spread it over our potatoes and deli cuts. Very fine meal, and nicely finished with some yogurt.

Easily being 21H00, Lou retired to her room, as did us others. And here I am.

Quite a bit later, being drawn out by my extensive Facebook life.



I must sleep.

Good night!

11:10 pm

On the way to the Sea, you spy Marseille


2 comments:

  1. So everything has cheese on it...hmm...So I sense a high class Chez Ashton?? ;P Nom Nom The appies sound delish. Do send the particulars!!

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  2. Mmm, nutella. It definitely was in Europe before it came to Canada. When I went to Germany for my first time (I was 7 years old, I think) we ate brunch with a family who offered me nutella. I was way too shy to accept the offer, but I remember that distictly b/c they, as well as my parents, were shocked that I didn't try it.
    And now that you know what french bakeries are like, one day I will show you my favourite little bakery in Schliebach, Deutschland :)

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